The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday that it is taking actions to strengthen the federal death penalty. This includes rescinding a Biden-era moratorium on federal executions as the Trump administration pushes to step up capital punishment.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has instructed the Bureau of Prisons to modify its execution protocol. The Justice Department is readopting the lethal injection protocol used during President Donald Trump’s first term, which includes the reauthorization of single-drug lethal injections. Additionally, the department expanded the protocol to include the use of firing squads.
Acting Attorney General Blanche stated that the department is standing with victims by reviving these methods to execute federal death row inmates. However, capital punishment remains controversial in the U.S., with critics warning that innocent people could be put on death row.